[BC] Remote control follies

[Chuck Lakaytis]

Not too many years ago in Ketchikan an inspector showed up at the local 
AM.  He noticed that all the meter readings for several years read 
exactly the same.  He turned off the plate voltage and none of the 
readings changed!  Using his tweeker he popped off the meter covers and 
discovered that the movements had all been glued to give the proper 
readings.

On 11/24/2010 10:13 AM, RichardBJohnson at comcast.net wrote:
> Haha! When I was CE at WCHA, Chambersburg, PA., we had a homemade remote control unit that had three meters, each with separate calibration pots. Each morning I would dutifully record the readings at the transmitter site and set the calibration pots at the studio.
>
> Eventually, however, one of the pots was up all the way and could not adjust its respective meter anymore. It was then that I removed the panel to find out what needed to be fixed. What I found was that the meters all connected to a single 9-volt battery through a calibration pot. The battery was turned on and off using a DPST switch on the front panel. The other pole of the switch went to the remote-control phone line.
>
> At the transmitter, the remote-control phone line was connected in series with the plate-relay coil, which used 220 volts!
>
> There was 220 volts on the telephone line and no actual metering! When I brought this to the attention of the owner/manager, he said; "Just change the battery!"
>
> Eventually we did get a remote-control unit, but only after the last blood was drained out of all the rocks in Pennsylvania.
>
> Cheers,
> Richard B. Johnson
> Book: http://www.AbominableFirebug.com/
>

--
Chuck Lakaytis
Director of Engineering, Alaska Public Broadcasting
135 Cordova Street, Anchorage, AK 99501
office   907-277-6300